All right...
Since no one wants to be the nerd that enters this realm, I'll do it. By now you probably know that a reboot of the Star Trek series is coming out soon. In fact, it's coming out this upcoming Friday, May 8th. And I have to tell you internets, it looks exceptionally badass.
I know! I know! Admitting that you want to see a Trek movie is slightly less painful than having an ingrown toenail, but only slightly. I feel your pain!
But don't lie, from the trailers you've become curious, even excited about the new film and its outrageous looking special effects. You are tempted to go and see whether producer/director (and co-producer of L O S T) J.J. Abrams can really pull this off. The tagline, "this isn't your dad's Star Trek" has you seriously considering it. Well, let me be the first to say that it's ok, be freaking excited.
This movie looks like so much fun. If you haven't gotten the chance, go here and watch a couple of the trailers. I defy you to tell me that this movie doesn't tug at you. No William Shatner or Patrick Stewart, no Wrath of Khan for this generation. We're getting a whole new batch of cookies here guys in the form of mind blowing special effects, action and maybe even some sexy time! Take that 1979!
Sure the guy they have lined up to play James T. Kirk (Chris Pine from Smokin' Aces who is also slated to play Hal Jordan/The Green Lantern in the film adaptation) was probably cast because he'll pull the ladies in, but he still looks like he could bring the heat too. The new direction on the character certainly looks cool. Then we have Zachary Quinto, whom the world knows as Sylar from Heroes, playing Spock for half the movie. He's a great actor and he certainly looks like Spock, so I'm looking for him to step up here. But you want to know who is playing Spock in his prime in the second half of the movie? Leonard Nimoy himself. Hell yes. Even if you hate the old Trek, everyone knows Nimoy is the man.
Then we have one of the most entertaining actors in the world, Simon Pegg, replacing James Doohan as Scotty. Imagine a Sargeant Nicholas Angel/Shaun (of the Dead) hybrid running amock on the Starship Enterprise. I literally couldn't imagine a more delightful concept if I tried. Plus we got John Cho (Harold of Harold and Kumar) playing Sulu, Karl Urban (Eomer from The Lord of the Rings trilogy) playing Dr. McCoy, Eric Bana playing Nero (the villain), Ben Cross playing Spock's dad and Winona Ryder playing Spock's mom. This looks like a winner to me.
The thing is that this movie would be hard to really screw up. Think about it, Star Trek isn't exactly Donnie Darko in terms of themes or emotional depth. It's about spaceships blowing shit up and a man with pointy ears and intense eyebrows pinching people to death. Special effects and half way decent acting can make something so simple a lot of fun, and good acting and a good script could make it amazing. It's almost like a win-win. Either Abrams delivers a film that blows us away like Transformers did, with out-of-control visuals, or it gives us that plus great substance a la Iron Man. What do we have to lose?
